I at times would like to make my Biorad 600 less confocal.  Tha
t is I want to see an image more like epi gives in order to increase detection
in Z so as not to have to optically section.  Opening the slit al the way is st
ill a relatively narrow section compared to epi in my experience although Ihave
 not measured the two.  Any suggestions out there as to how to do it.  Removing
 the aperture does not look simple and I am not sure if that is the limiting fa
ctor beyond its maximum open setting.  Someone here suggested defocusing the ey
epiece in the scan head, but my expectation is that it would reduce signal with
out increasing the Z depth.                  As long as I am on the subject, ca
n someone explain exactly what that lens does?  The manual says that it allows
the laser beam to fill the back focal plane of the objective.  This seems incor
rect to me since you could not scan the beam across the lens if you filled the
back focal plane.  The real question is: what determines the maximum z depth?
Is the size of the spot used for illumination or the size of the aperture
at the PMT or something else? Dave Knecht